Free Press vs. Fair Trial: The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Case

In the Public Eye

The jury was chosen quickly. It consisted of eight men and four women. Thomas Trenchard, the trial judge, instructed the jurors not to read the newspapers, listen to the radio, or talk to anyone about the trial. But each day the jurors had to walk back and forth between the courthouse and the Union Hotel where they were sequestered (isolated from the public). Jurors waded through the crowds where newsboys shouted the latest headlines, hawkers sold miniature "Lindbergh ladders," and people encouraged the jury to "Send Hauptmann to the chair!"

When the jurors ate their meals in the hotel dining room, they were separated from the other diners (mainly reporters) by only a thin cloth curtain. In their rooms at night, the jury members could hear radio reporters broadcast news of the trial from a temporary station one floor below.

Judge Trenchard tried his best to maintain an orderly courtroom. He banned typewriters, but scores of reporters continually sent handwritten news copy by messenger boys to the telegraph wire operators in the courthouse attic. More than once, Judge Trenchard had to warn courtroom spectators against laughing, giggling, and applauding.

Col. Lindbergh was one of the first to testify. As he spoke from the witness chair, photographers snapped his picture with flash cameras. This angered Judge Trenchard who had earlier ruled against any courtroom photography while the trial was in session.

Five newsreel companies covered the trial. By this time, newsreels had become a popular feature in movie theaters all over the nation. The newsreel outfits pooled their efforts and set up one camera enclosed in a box to deaden its noise and focused it permanently on the witness chair. The camera used special film that did not require additional lighting. A directional microphone was secretly strung behind the jury box. The whole apparatus was operated by remote control. In this way, newsreel companies captured the testimony of a number of witnesses including Col. Lindbergh and Hauptmann on sound movie film and distributed it to theaters all over the nation and the world.

Apparently, the county sheriff had agreed to the filming arrangements on condition that none of the footage would be shown in movie houses before the end of the trial. Judge Trenchard maintained that he was unaware any filming was taking place during the trial. In any event, the judge angrily closed down the operation two-thirds of the way through the trial when newsreels of testimony were shown in most of the country's first-run theaters.